Adams County hall of fame inductees reflect upon county's influence

The inductees and speakers from Tuesday s Adams County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame ceremony stand together. They are, from left: Front row Inductee Donny Asper; Heather DiSarro and Joyce Miller, members of the late Robert Miller s family; and Lisa Heyser-Sturges, accepting for the late William Heyser. Back row Inductees Robert Bo Davies, Barry Streeter, Mark Lookenbill and Richard Selby; and Bill Heyser. (THE EVENING SUN - TYLER SIZEMORE)

Gettysburg College head football coach Barry Streeter took a look around the Dobbin House ballroom, and saw what could have been.

"It's an honor because of Adams County," Streeter said upon his induction Tuesday night into the Adams County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

"Look at the names on the list of this program of the former inductees," he said about the group of 108 members which he joined. "It's amazing to me. We could put together a heck of a football team, basketball team, soccer team. You name a team and we could put together a good one."

That "team" increased by seven members on Tuesday at Gettysburg. In addition to Streeter, the chapter inducted Donny Asper, Robert "Bo" Davies, Mark Lookenbill, Richard Selby and the late William Heyser and Robert "Poss" Miller.

Gettysburg College head football coach Barry Streeter accepts his induction into the Adams County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame as chapter president Scott Meckley, right, watches. (THE EVENING SUN - TYLER SIZEMORE)

However, Streeter's induction added to a growing family legacy when the hall of fame's ranks. The coach, who just completed his 34th season at Gettysburg, joined son Brandon in the hall of fame.

That was a connection duplicated Tuesday night by Davies, a former Gettysburg High and University of South Carolina standout who joined father Bob Davies, a former NBA great, in the chapter.

"He was the basketball and soccer coach at Gettysburg College, and the first soccer game he ever coached was the first soccer game he ever saw," "Bo" Davies said. "He had a lot of influence on me in athletics and sports.

But Davies, like several others, also harkened back to his youth in Adams County.

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Davies, who resides in South Carolina, said he took the time to travel around Gettysburg during his visit.

"Gettysburg was a great place to grow up. I have fond memories, just a flood of memories coming through," he said.

Such a connection was first mentioned by Asper, a former three-sport standout at Biglerville who returned Tuesday from Philadelphia, where he works for the FBI.

Noting the presence of former Canner head wrestling coach Mike Bucher, Asper said, "Actually, Mr. Bucher, I have something I keep with me at my desk at work. He had this up on the wall in the wrestling room, and it says, 'Be proud to wrestle for Biglerville, for Biglerville is proud of its wrestlers.'

"That's something that always reminds me of home, and is very important to me."

For Lookenbill, who has remained in the Hanover area following his stellar football career at both Delone Catholic High and Lehigh University, the connection was more personal.

"I think I played in 127 games from fourth grade on, and I think they missed one game," he said about his parents, "but they drove two hours to watch it on TV at a local hotel.

Former Delone Catholic High football standout Mark Lookenbill, left, is congratulated by chapter president Scott Meckley as Lookenbill accepts his induction into the Adams County Chapter of the Pennsylvanjia Sports Hall of Fame. (THE EVENING SUN - TYLER SIZEMORE)

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The role of parent was on the minds of those who introduced and accepted the chapter's plaques for Heyser, a member of Gettysburg High's 1952 unbeaten football team, and Miller, former president of the South Penn Baseball League.

"I never knew him as 'Poss,'" Miller's introductory speaker, Heather DiSarro, said, "My grandmother said this was a childhood nickname derived from an incident in which he was climbing trees, and this friend started calling him, 'Poss,' after they saw a opossum hanging in the same tree."

Heyser's son, Bill, said his father's football ability also led to a nickname.

"They called him 'Hooks,' because he would catch anything thrown to him," he said.

However, Selby, joined at the dinner by his 99-year-old mother, found it curious that he would be included in Tuesday's group of athletically gifted inductees. He was honored instead for a broadcasting career which spanned two decades, including a program on WGET-AM called "Spotlight on Sports."

"Because of what you did over the years, it gave me something to talk about for 40-some years," Selby said to his fellow inductees.

And then Selby closed his speech with his familiar close from his radio show.

"It's time to turn off the spotlight on sports for tonight," he said. "Good night."